Boxing
Denzel Bentley is real and wants to prove his worth in the middleweight division
Published
3 months agoon
Interview with Shaun Brown
BN: Have you and Derrick Ozaze, who are both based in London, ever met?
DB: Yeah, we have a lot of mutual friends, so I know him personally. We sparred about six years ago. He came down for a week to see his family and was at the gym all week, so we sparred all week.
It’s entertaining because I was telling someone just a few weeks before I found out we might be fighting, that we were messaging each other. So when that came up I was like, oh man, this is awkward, but listen, it is what it is.
BN: I remember talking to you after your win over Kieran Smith and you were a bit frustrated with the lack of activity in your career. You must be joyful to be fighting regularly again.
DB: Definitely. I like to be energetic. We’re always in the gym, working strenuous and stuff like that because there’s so many people there and someone might have a date, so I’ll be at camp with them and stuff like that. I’m always in the gym, I’m always ready to go, I’m always ready to fight. It’s not like I take a lot of time off after fights and I have to get back in shape.
I’m always in decent shape and like I’ve said a million times, I’m competitive, I love fighting. I enjoy it. So when I’m not energetic, I feel like I’m just wasting my time in the gym and I could be doing something else, spending time with my family or doing something else, but I’m sitting in the gym waiting for a date and I don’t get it. It can be really frustrating. I put a lot of time and life into this sport and I don’t have a lot of time for it. I want to do everything now, as much as I can, so when I retire from the sport, I’m joyful with how my career has turned out.
BN: You beat Danny Dignum and are expected to beat Ozaze as well. If you win on Saturday, you’ll definitely be hanging around Queensberry’s door looking for a bigger fight.
DB: Honestly, I understood my position. If I had defeated [Nathan] Heaney, I would have been there. I know I had to go back against [Danny] Dignum and that was a great performance and it showed that it was just a bad night against Heaney. I’m a contender in the middleweight division but it’s just one fight. I have to do it again before I start saying, great, can we move on? I understand the loss.
I understand that I have to go back to go forward again and that’s what I’m doing. This fight is a good fight. Ozaze is a good fighter. He’s a good fighter. I’m expected to win because I’m more celebrated than him. He’s just not that celebrated.
So it’s like, oh, who is this guy? But he’s a tough fighter. He’s a good fighter. He’s sturdy and he’s got character. I think it could turn out to be a dog fight, but regardless of what kind of fight it is, I have to make sure I get my hand raised at the end. I can’t take him lightly and have another slip-up. I have to get through this and then I can start asking myself other questions like how do I move forward.
BN: You said about knowing your position, which is a very straightforward and realistic assessment. Have you always been a realist?
DB: Yes, 100%. You have to be realistic in life. We all have expectations. We all want to be in places and we all want to be at the top, whatever we do. But you have to ask yourself, do you deserve it? What did you do to deserve it? In this game, you have to be a little bit of a cheater.
You have to feel like you’re the best to compete with the best. I don’t doubt that, but you also have to understand your journey and where you stand. Like I’ve said a million times, I didn’t come into boxing the conventional way. I came in behind schedule. I didn’t do much as an amateur. So I started in petite shows and then I got noticed by Frank. [Warren] because of our relationships and we jumped on the show at the last minute and I was impressed.
No one expected me to do anything. So why should I feel like I need to be pushed around, just because I feel like I should be pushed around? I need to show my worth. I know what I feel like I’m worth, but I need to show everyone else what I feel like I’m worth and what I feel like I can do. And I feel like the more realistic you are, the less nervous you’ll be. I know I’m a good fighter, but I also understand my position. I understand that I need to prove myself.
I have to get the opportunities, take advantage of them and win. Just because I think I’m a good fighter doesn’t mean I should be here, there and there. I have to earn the right to be put in those positions. That being said, I feel like there are a lot of fighters in good positions that have something else that helps them grow. They can sell a lot of tickets or they can have a social media presence. But I just don’t feel like they’re the fighters that people think they are, but other things justify them being in that position. I’m not a substantial fan of social media. I’m not a substantial personality outside of that.
BN: We recently saw your senior adversary Nathan Heaney lose to Brad Pauls. And Tyler Denny got the biggest win of his career against Felix Cash. Did you expect those results?
DB: Honestly, I thought Pauls would win the first fight and then draw. Then I thought, coming back, Heaney must know what he did wrong and Heaney will beat him.
It was an stimulating fight. I think when he knocked Heaney down, the fight went to Brad Pauls. I think the first three rounds were Heaney’s and I thought, yeah, he’s running away with this.
When he got knocked down, Brad Pauls started winning almost every round from that point for me, and then he stopped him at the end. Cash and Tyler Denny, I didn’t expect that. I thought Cash was going to get him, but I thought, how good is Cash? How fresh is he? He’s been out for a really long time. He’s got a novel trainer, how does that work? But just because of the level we’ve seen Cash box, I expected Cash to beat him on points. I didn’t think he’d stop him on points. So when I saw Tyler beat him, I knew he was stopped on the cut, but he still won every round for me.
BN: Do you expect another surprise for Tyler in the fight against Hamza Sheeraz?
DB: I know it sounds crazy because I’m doubting him again, but Hamzah is a different kind of fighter. Cash is talented and good, but he’s very undisciplined. He’s inactive, he’s not really disciplined. He lives a reckless life outside of boxing, and as you get older, it all catches up with you. You can’t handle all that stress. Hamzah is the opposite, especially in the ring.
I think it’s going to be tough to break through Hamzah’s defense. It’s going to be tough to break him down and get him out of his rhythm. To make him do something he’s not used to because he’s very disciplined and he listens to his coaches. If his coach says one thing, he’ll go out there and do it. Like in the Ammo Williams fight, he got caught with a huge left hook. He got rattled, he didn’t panic. He just sat in his shell, waited for the storm to pass and then started throwing his punches and catching them in between. I think it’s going to be a pretty similar fight.
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Boxing
Mike Tyson had absolutely no chance of knocking out Jake Paul
Published
1 day agoon
November 21, 2024One of the hottest topics surrounding Mike Tyson’s return at the age of 58 was the possibility of the boxing legend scoring a knockout of Jake Paul.
WBN has weighed in on this topic several times, questioning the validity of five-second training clips that revealed nothing about Tyson’s abilities at this overdue age. One of the most intriguing observations during the preparations was the opinion of UFC commentator Daniel Cormier.
Speaking on his show “Funky and the Champ,” Cormier reflected on Tyson’s social media videos and offered an informed opinion on the meaning of the clips.
“I understand that [he is in amazing shape at 58]and I understand what he is saying [he feels as though he can compete]– Cormier said. “And I agree that when he hits the pads with Rafael Cordeiro, it looks like there’s still something left in him.
“But then I watch Jake Paul fight Mike Perry. I saw Jake Paul get overwhelmed to the point where he started to feel uncomfortable. It looked like Mike Perry had a chance. But Jake has a reserve tank he can go to and benefit from because he’s 28 years ancient. Then he comes back and finally finishes Mike Perry.
“At the beginning of the fight, Mike Perry gets beaten up and dropped. He looks trained and unmatched. This worries me because what if it looks like a 58-year-old man fighting a 28-year-old man while Mike can’t employ the backup tank to stay and compete with this newborn kid? I think it’s a failure for Jake Paul because if you beat Mike Tyson, everyone will love him.
He added: “What if Mike knocks him out? It’s over. Everything is ready. This would be the backfire of all time. If he gets knocked out, nothing like that has ever happened in the history of the sport.”
Unfortunately for Tyson, this revenge backfired spectacularly, as the former heavyweight champion’s return was the only event that bombed. Tyson had nothing left twenty years after he had nothing left in his tank and no desire to box in his mind.
Paul parlayed this into a money-making scheme that would forever be a success for him and his company, but would be poorly received by the die-hard boxing fraternity.
Cormier’s words resonate, especially after what happened in the ring when Mike Tyson struggled to shift into first gear, warning former fighters thinking about returning after 50.
Boxing
Lauren Price looks to win Jonas vs Habazin with an undercard victory
Published
2 days agoon
November 21, 2024Lauren Price MBE will defend her world title for the first time on Saturday, December 14 at the Exhibition Center in Liverpool, while the Welsh champion plans to stage an all-British unification clash with welterweight rival Natasha Jonas, which will headline the Collision Course that night.
Price defends her WBA welterweight title against undefeated Colombian challenger Bexcy Mateus on the same night as Jonas attempts to unify the IBF and WBC titles with Ivana Habazin as part of BOXXER’s ‘Collision Course’ fight night, which can be seen live and exclusively on Sky Sports in the UK UK and Ireland and Peacock in the US.
Price MBE (7-0, 1 KO) made history with an excellent performance, defeating former undisputed welterweight world ruler Jessica McCaskill in front of her fans in Cardiff in May.
Price, the first Welsh boxer to win Olympic gold, once again entered the record books by becoming the country’s first world champion in just her seventh professional fight. The 30-year-old from Ystrad Mynach, who has yet to lose a round as a professional, will now defend her world titles for the first time as she focuses on dominating the welterweight division.
Mateus (7-0, 6 KO), ranked No. 5 in the WBA rankings, is undefeated in the professional ranks and has won all but one of her seven fights by knockout. The 29-year-old from Bogota, fighting outside her native Colombia for the first time, will now have her first chance at global fame, with her goal to dethrone Price and take the top spot in the welterweight division.
Lauren Price said: “I’m excited to defend my belts and complete what has been an crucial year for me. I have full respect for Mateusz. I will prove that I am the best in the division and I will not let anything or anyone stand in my way of being undisputed.”
BOXXER Founder and CEO Ben Shalom said: “It’s a massive night for the women’s welterweight division with three world champions competing. Natasha Jonas returns to her hometown for a mandatory unification fight against Ivana Habazin, and Lauren Price defends her world titles against undefeated challenger Bexcy Mateus. The fight for the undisputed continues. If Natasha and Lauren win on December 14, it will set the stage for a massive “Battle Of Britain” world title unification fight next year.
There’s reason to celebrate as BOXXER delivers a Christmas cracker to end the year. In addition to the world championship fights between Natasha Jonas and Lauren Price, fight fans can expect a gala full of drama and entertainment.
Undefeated Irishman Stephen McKenna (15-0, 14 KO) will face English champion Lee Cutler (14-1, 7 KO) in an invigorating super welterweight fight for the silver WBC International title.
McKenna impressed fans in his three-round fight against Joe Laws last August at Oakwell Stadium in Barnsley. The two struck out in the first round, then McKenna began to apply the pressure, losing Laws three more times and maintaining his undefeated record after a third-round stoppage.
English cruiserweight champion Viddal Riley (11-0, 6 KO) returns to action from a rib injury that has kept him out of the ring since a career-best victory over Mikael Lawal in March. Riley will be looking to shake off the ring rust as he takes on high-profile opponents in the recent year.
Undefeated Chorley super middleweight Mark Jeffers (18-0, 5 KO) scored an explosive fifth-round knockout victory over Darren Johnston in May and will be looking to bring more drama to Liverpool’s Exhibition Center as he goes in search of his 19th professional win.
Mason Cartwright (20-4-1, 8 KO) from Cheshire, a former two-time British title challenger from Ellesmere Port, will be counting on local support as he returns to the title track.
After signing a promotional contract with BOXXER, local star Frankie Stringer (8-0, 1 KO) can achieve his third victory in 2024, when he returns in front of his fans in Liverpool. The 23-year-old lightweight fighter is a player of the notable city team Rotunda ABC, and his manager is former world champion Liam Smith.
Boxing
Heavyweight who knocked out Lewis to break Tyson’s record days after the feat
Published
3 days agoon
November 19, 2024Mike Tyson will miss his final record-breaking days after becoming the oldest former heavyweight champion to walk through the ring.
“The Baddest Man on the Planet” reached an all-time high in Texas on Friday night, returning from a two-decade absence. However, Tyson gave the achievement five days later to former Lennox Lewis conqueror Oliver McCall.
On Tuesday night at The Troubadour in Nashville, Tennessee, the former WBC heavyweight champion returns to action and will face veteran Stacy Frazier in a fight scheduled for four rounds. At age 59, McCall will set the record for a sanctioned fight, beating Tyson by fourteen months.
McCall was born in April 1965, and Tyson’s mother gave birth to him in June 1966. “The Atomic Bull” hopes to score his 60th career victory tonight. He enters the fight with a record of 59-14, including 38 knockouts.
The Chicago native believes his continued activity over the last 19 years will be what separates his performance on Tuesday night from what Tyson looked like on Friday.
“I’m ready. I’ve been training here in Nashville for a few weeks now, but I’m always in shape,” McCall said. “It will be a completely different match than what the fans saw on Friday.
“I think being lively has a lot to do with it. I haven’t fought in five years because of the pandemic and a few things that didn’t work out.
“If you look at my record, since 2005 I have fought 25 times, of which I have won 19-6 times against quality fighters and won various regional titles.
McCall fights without financial motivation. He sees his fighting days approaching and is already planning his post-retirement plans.
“I want to do this for another year. This means I will be 40 years into my career as a professional boxer. Then I want to train and become a manager. I want to return the favor and assist the next generation of players try to become world champions.
“I came here to Nashville and contacted the manager who took me to the title [Country Box] promoter Jimmy Adams. I’m learning a lot about this aspect of the sport. I love the players here and everything that happens with Country Box.”
The Country Box 25 gala will also feature eight-round fights between super bantamweight Elon DeJesus (8-1-2, 7 KO) and Dominique Griffin (5-7-2, 2 KO), as well as super middleweight fighters. Sean Hemphill (16-2, 10 KO) fights Bryant McClain (6-5-2, 1 KO).
Airy heavyweight Isaac Carbonell (8-0, 5 KO) will face Antonio Louis Hernandez (7-19-4, 4 KO) in six-round fights; Joel Mutombo (6-0, 4 KO) vs. Kevin Torian (3-2, 3 KO) in a cruiserweight fight.
In a four-round fight, Ryan Zempoaltecatl (2-0, 1 KO) will face Raymond Chacon (10-64-1, 2 KO).
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